Southsea Skatepark / Mark Webb
Southsea Skatepark is run by a local youth service. Its skaters have a national reputation, attracting unique competitions and events.
The skatepark works with young people in Portsmouth and encourages a sense of belonging and responsible behaviour by encouraging regular users to help with the running and up keep of the park.
Mark Webb was one such person and is now the top street and spine ramp BMXer in the world. The last four years have seen Mark progress from a budding young biker at Southsea Skatepark to a world-class competitor. Titles to his name include winning World Mini Ramp Champion three times in a row, Urban Games 06, Suzuki Masters 06 and Nass 06, the competition that saw him triumph over Ryan Nyquist, the top American pro!
Southsea Skatepark is the only supervised park on this area of the coast and gets an average 300 skaters per weekend. Mark spends up to four hours a day training and also coaches new talent from Portsmouth’s young skaters, some starting as young as six.
“It’s great that young kids can be involved in this type of extreme sport; it gives them loads of confidence and you get really fit doing it. We have a few that are making it professionally, they get to travel all over the world, it’s a massive experience for them”.
Portsmouth’s youth extreme sport scene revolves around Southsea’s skate park. It supports a thriving community of young people from beginners to world class competitors such as Mark Webb.